Harry Potter and the Robbery Return
by Jelly Bean3
Summary: The Ministry is in trouble when robberies occur out of no where. And Harry has found a new love. Will Voldemort come back?
1. Chapter 1 The Robbery

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and other related indicia are all trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. © 2000  
  
Harry Potter and the Robbery Return  
  
Chapter 1 - The Robbery  
  
Being the summer holidays, Harry was trying his hardest to enjoy the free time, which was pretty much impossible where he lived. Harry lived at the Dursley's, with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He had ever since he could remember, even before. He grew up believing that he was dropped off at the Dursley's doorstep after his parent's death in a most violent car crash. When the truth spilled out on his eleventh birthday, he was shocked! However, what was to come, he would find to shock him even more-he was a wizard! His parents hadn't died in a car crash at all! They were killed by the Dark Lord, Voldemort, who had also attempted to kill Harry and failed, leaving but a small lightening shaped scar on his forehead. Just like every summer, Harry desperately missed Hogwarts, his wizard school, and more than ever, his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Thankfully, just the past week, he had received a letter from Ron inviting him to stay for the rest of the summer holidays:  
  
Dear Harry, Mum said it's fine if you come and stay! Send Hedwig A.S.A.P. and we'll come and get you! See you soon!  
  
Ron  
  
Harry approached Uncle Vernon cautiously one night, "So.?" "So what, boy?" he replied bitterly, not taking the time to look up from his newspaper. "So can I go?" Uncle Vernon groaned in disgust. "Oh, bah! Go, but I'm only letting you because I don't want you here for the rest of the summer, threatening us with your silly magic tricks!" Harry shuddered at Uncle Vernon's deep, overpowering voice and looked at his beat purple face, holding in pure excitement. "Oh, of course!" he added sarcastically, for one wrong move could change his uncle's mind. Now, one week later, Harry was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Weasleys, waiting hours and hours for some sign of them. Whether it be a flying car or a noisy arrival with Floo Powder, he couldn't help doubting them. Then, one day while Harry was staring at his ceiling in his room, there was a crash, followed by a scratchy screech of Aunt Petunia's. Harry ran down the stairs skipping one, two, then three steps until it felt as though he wasn't touching any at all. Mrs. Weasley approached him, her dimples glowing. "Harry! Oh, it's so good to see you, dear!" Ron cut in, "Muuuum! Give him a break! Hey, Harry." "Hey," Harry grinned noticing Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley peeking through the kitchen door avoiding any unwanted incidents similar to last year's Floo Powder Visit. Mrs. Weasley and Ron were apparently the only ones who came, to Harry's surprise. "Everyone's at home, well, not our home, but." Mrs. Weasley explained. "We've been robbed." "Huh? I mean-what?" Harry asked, extremely astounded. "They mostly took Percy and Dad's Ministry things: keys, money, photographs, it's a terrible mess. That's why they've been working overtime." Ron said, grabbing hold of Hedwig, Harry's owl's, cage. "It's happened to a lot of Ministry workers. "Wow." Harry said. There was an awkward silence. "I'm going to go get my truck." "I'll come with you!" Ron followed him up the stairs, the Dursleys eyeing them nervously as they walked by. "Since Dad and Percy are gone all the time and they're inspecting the Burrow, we've been staying at Granny's," Ron explained as they traveled up the stairs. Nodding, Harry and Ron entered Harry's almost empty room and lifted the trunk shakily down the stairs, the Dursleys still quivering at the bottom. Mrs. Weasley was talking to them kindly as they stared at her as if she was a bomb that was about to go off at any moment. "Love what you've done with the place! So original!" "Let's go mum! Harry's all ready," Ron complained grabbing his mothers arm he dragged her to the fireplace. "We'll talk again soon!" she waved over her shoulder. "MUM!" Mrs. Weasley pulled out the small pouch of Floo Powder. "Okay, dears." Ron took a pinch of the powder and threw it into the fire irritably, turning it a violent shade of emerald green. "Granny Weasley's!" Following Ron, Harry did the same. "Granny Weasley's!" "See you!" Mrs. Weasley gave them another blissful sort of wave and was off. Spinning and turning, Harry barely made it there, but when he did- "Oh!" a voice sprang out. "Little Ronnie!" It must have been Granny Weasley. It looked to Harry as though Mrs. Weasley had a little too much influence on her. Pinching Ron's cheeks, she caught sight of Harry and burst. "Ronnie! Ronnie! It's your friend! Harry? Right?" Ron let out a watch-out face to Harry and- "Oh, you're just the cutest thing!" she gaped, grabbing Harry's cheeks turning them a bright shade of red, just as she had done to Ron-or should I say Ronnie. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley," Harry managed to say. "Oh, call me Granny!" she chirped. "Oh, come in, come in!" She took Harry and Ron's hands as if they were two year olds and led them into the brightly colored kitchen. "Hot coco boys?" The two shrugged, sitting down at the round table. Mrs. Weasley followed them into the room, smiling graciously as Granny stirred the coco. "Arthur's been so busy with all these robberies and little Ronnie and his brothers and sister love it here, hopefully you will too! I'm sure you will! Oh, I'm so glad you're here, Harry. Ronnie's told me so much about you!" Granny babbled on and served them their coco. She squeezed in-between Harry and Ron. They were each waiting for the perfect time to dash out of the room, but it was almost impossible with Mrs. Weasley talking non-stop. 


	2. Chapter 2 The Stag

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and other related indicia are all trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. © 2000  
  
Harry Potter and the Robbery Return  
  
Chapter 2 - The Stag  
  
The sun shined bright through the tall windows of Ron's room. Well, the room he shared with Fred, George, and now Harry at Granny Weasley's house. Ron and Harry had finally gotten up to their room sometime around nine o'clock the night before while Granny turned to refill her sixth cup of coco. Ron's shake awoke Harry. He had almost forgotten where he was, for Dudley's obnoxious voice wasn't booming in the bedroom next door and an aroma of eggs and bacon filled the morning air. "Harry! Harry!" He shooed Ron away, "I'm up." "Gran's made breakfast for us!" Harry sleepily got out of his fluffy bed. The room was huge, with many big oddly shaped windows posted here and there along the bright blue- green walls. Fred and George were snoring loudly in the bed next to Harry's. They didn't show any sign of waking up soon. "Let's go!" Ron urged, his stomach taking over him. Downstairs in the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley sat at the table thoroughly reading the Daily Prophet, while drinking some more coco. "When will this chaos stop!" she exclaimed to herself-referring to the robberies. "Three more families have been robbed in the past week! The Ministry is in for some tough business!" Ron and Harry plopped down in the chairs across from Mrs. Weasley as Granny gave them each an overflowing plate of breakfast. "Dad's going to be gone some more I guess," Ron sighed grabbing his fork. "Oh boys," Mrs. Weasley set the paper down. "I thought we'd get a head start on school shopping, eh?" Ron nodded before digging into his food.  
  
That afternoon, Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and of course Granny Weasley gathered around the fireplace in the circular, yellow living room. The room was filled with old wizard gadgets: a clock similar to the one the Weasley's had in their kitchen, old wands, hats, and many other implements with a lot of switches and buttons. "Fred, George, you first," ordered Mrs. Weasley, who was holding the bag of Floo Powder. George followed Fred into the emerald green fire and shouted, "Diagon Alley!" "Ron, you next." Doing the same Ron disappeared within a blink of an eye. Mrs. Weasley beamed, "Harry." After taking a pinch of Floo Powder and throwing it into the fire, he casually stepped into the brightness of the fire and exclaimed with certainty- "Diagon Alley!" The air around him spun faster and faster. The feeling wasn't right, though. It was harsh and bumpy. Harry knew he wasn't headed for Diagon Alley. He knew the feeling from when he had ended up in Knockturn Alley two years ago. But this was worse. He felt sick to his stomach as the unpleasant ride ended and he fell to the cold, stone ground. Where am I? He thought. It was definitely not Diagon Alley. It looked as though he was in a cave, a small one at that. There was no light, except for a small hole above him. All of a sudden, right before his very eyes stood a familiar creature- a stag. It was Harry's father. Ghost like and almost transparent, the stag approached Harry, who was still laying on the ground in confusion a flood of questions entering he his mind. "Dad?" he asked in a surprised tone as he quickly stood up, brushing himself off. The stag nodded and spoke. "I brought you here, Harry, because I have to tell you something." Stepping closer, Harry replied, "Tell me what?" "He-he's.got a plan. A brilliant-" There was thumping in the background, startling both of them. Harry's father took off in a canter and before Harry could say a thing, he was in Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, standing before the Weasleys. "Geez, mate! You don't have any luck with Floo Powder!" Fred commented. "You alright, Harry?" Ginny asked. He nodded. "What's up?" Ron said. Harry took him aside from the rest of the family, "My dad.I just saw my dad. He told me that someone's got a plan." "Who's got a plan? What do you mean?" "I'm not exactly sure. All he said was 'He'. I-I think it might be Voldemort." 


	3. Chapter 3 The New Hermione

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and other related indicia are all trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. © 2000  
  
Harry Potter and the Robbery Return  
  
Chapter 3 - The New Hermione  
  
"Vold-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Well, of course it's him! Who else would 'He' be?" Ron demanded. Harry motioned his hand for him to calm down. "I know, I know. But.how? And-and what?" Mrs. Weasley came scampering over, holding many battered books in her arms, struggling to keep them balanced. "What's all this ruckus?" she exclaimed. "Ron, we'll have to do with these." This is how it had been every year. Harry had always felt uncomfortable when Ron always got stuck with hand-me-downs and used supplies, while he had a huge fortune his parents had left for him at Gringotts. He would help them. He really would, but he didn't want to make them poor. "Nothing, Mum," Ron sighed with annoyance. Harry and Ron walked around Flourish and Blotts, debating while Harry grabbed his supplies. "How could he come back? Well, I guess he has his ways, but.oh not again he can't!" Harry dreaded what would happen if he did come back. He would probably do anything in his power to finally kill him. After finishing in Flourish and Blotts, they made their way to Madam Malkin's Robe for All Occasions. Harry and most of the Weasley's needed new work robes, for they had outgrown their old ones. The sky in Diagon Alley turned a redish purple as the sun setted and Weasleys and Harry got ready to make their way back home to Grannys. They tiredly walked back to the Flourish and Blotts fireplace and finally made it back home. It was late and everyone went strait to bed without a word.  
  
The next week was great, especially for Harry. They played game after game of wizards chess along with exploding snap and best of all Quidditch. The Floo Powder incident just slipped their minds; all for the better. Hermione was coming that day. She too would be staying with the Weasley's until term started. Anxiously awaiting her arrival, Harry and Ron took a few rounds of Quidditch practice in an opening in the back of Granny Weasley's gigantic house. "Over here, Harry!" Ron yelled, waving his hands in the air, making Fred's broomstick wobble violently. Harry tossed the golf ball they had been using as a substitute snitch to Ron. As he reached for the small, white ball he took his whole body with him an feel to the ground with a crash! All Harry could do was laugh under his breath. Being only five feet in the air, he couldn't have been hurt to badly. "You okay?" he asked swooping smoothly down towards him. Ron shot up and brushed himself off casually, "Yeah, yeah! I'm alright." "LUNCH!" A voice rang out through the afternoon air. "Good.I'm starved!" Ron exclaimed, nothing new. They walked back to the house, Harry laughing under his breath. "Shut up."  
  
As they entered the kitchen they could smell the superb cooking of Granny's. "Were here," Harry said. "So am I!" Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table with Ginny. "Hey!" Harry exclaimed. "Hey!" Hermione replied. She looked different. Pretty even. Her bushy hair was fine and slightly curly at the ends. She was taller too. Ron walked over to her, "What's up? Harry and I were just practicing Quidditch outside." "Right, your mum told me, I just thought I'd hang out with Ginny and wait for you to finish." Ron gave her a puzzled look. "Okay. Well, why don't we have a bite to eat?" As they ate, they about up on lost time. Hermione had to visit Viktor Krum for the day in Bulgaria-as friends. She also went to Egypt with her parents. A magic-free week had turned into anything but. Turns out, she and her mother and father had run into Ron's brother, Bill, and practiced magic the whole week. Of course, since Hermione, being a student at Hogwarts wasn't supposed to do magic away from Hogwarts, it was pretty much her gawking over Bill. "It was so cool! He showed me all these neat spells! You're lucky to have him as a brother, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed and popped a bite of fruit in her mouth. Ron grunted, "Unh." 


	4. Chapter 4 And a New Year

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and other related indicia are all trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. © 2000  
  
Harry Potter and the Robbery Return  
  
Chapter 4 - And a New Year  
  
As the weeks of summer passed, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were beginning to see more and more of Mr. Weasley and Percy. Work at the Ministry had lightened up and there were no reported robberies in the paper. They had celebrated Harry's birthday one month ago on July 31. He was turning 15. Hermione had gotten him some wizard cologne that smelled like "dragon breeze". Harry joked and asked her if he smelled bad. One of his favorite gifts was one that Ron had gotten him. It was a new wizard's chess game. Hagrid, of course, sent him his usually birthday cake along with an old wizard's watch. The rest of the Weasley's bought him a book called Dealing With Dragons by none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. Last, the Dursley's took the courtesy of sending him a cotton ball. He had a great birthday, undoubtedly the best ever. The cake was scrumptious and he was very much enjoying the prominent treatment they were giving him. Now, today was September 1st, start of first term at Hogwarts. Judging by the excitement in their faces, everyone couldn't wait to go. They had taken the Ford Anglia (the second) to King's Cross Station, this year only going back to get Fred's new cloaks. He had thrown them in the closet after shopping in Diagon Alley. As usual, they were still late, but they had enough time to spare. When they arrived at the barrier between platforms nine and ten, it was ten to eleven, just enough time. They hurriedly-and casually-made their way to the platform where they said their good-byes and boarded the train, only finding it to be packed with students. "It's full." Ron sighed unhappily as they stepped into the sea of students. Fred and George took their seats next to Lee Jordan, and Ginny took hers next to Neville Longbottom. The last open seat was in the compartment where an extremely annoying fourth year sat-Colin Creevy. "Hey Harry!" he shouted, waving his arms to get his attention. "You can sit here!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged desperate glances and sat together across from Colin in the compartment. "So how does it feel to be a fifth year!?" "Um.great.thanks." Harry replied bluntly. "Oh, you've met Hermione and Ron, haven't you?" "Not formally, but I've heard about them! Hey guys! Colin Creevy! Harry and I are good pals! Right Harry?" Raising his eyebrows, Harry gave a shaky smile. "Sure is nice being friends with someone famous! Eh?" Colin gaped. Hermione and Ron sighed with annoyance and glanced at Harry who was staring out the window. They quickly changed the subject. "You're brother is Dennis right?" "Yeah! He's sitting up front with his friends!" "Oh?" The rest of the train ride was pretty much helpless Ron, Harry, and Hermione listening to Colin babble on and on about absolutely nothing to their liking. All they got to say was an "er" and an "uh" here and there. "Dennis and I got to me a famous-" Ron interrupted him, "Awe would look at that! We're there! We'll have to catch up on this later." And with that, the three of them scuttled of the train leaving Colin there with his mouth half open and his finger waving in the air.  
  
The usual gray-blue night sky was displayed in the Great Hall, the standard candles floating brightly all over. Everyone was seated except the new students, who were to become first years, and Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore sat at the head of the table at the front of the Great Hall talking to the other teachers sitting next to him. The wave of black hats flowed happily through the hall. Goblets and plates sparkled gold with the light of the candles above. Swing! The doors to the Great Hall split apart and anxious, new students filed silently behind Professor McGonagall, other students eyeing them as to make them nervous as they passed. As the Sorting Ceremony dragged on, everyone's stomach started to grumble like roaring freight trains from hunger. Just when they were about to burst with hunger, the golden plates before them filled up with many kinds of delicious foods and goblets with juice. "Hey, Harry." Ron started, his mouth overflowing with chicken. "No Tri-Wizard Tournament to save you from exams this year!" "Ha, ha," Harry laughed sarcastically. "Very funny." "Honestly, they wouldn't be so tricky if you studied for them." Hermione scoffed, popping a bite of baked potatoes into her mouth. "What's study?" Ron chortled. "Naw, just kidding. You badger us every year about it! We know." Hermione jokingly shook her head. When the feast was almost over, Dumbledore rose from his chair as he dabbed his mouth with his napkin. "Ah, students, are we all filled? Well, with many requests-" Dumbledore paused, his bright eyes glowing. "and with the success of last year-" The whole hall seemed to hold their breath. "We have decided to start a tradition and have another ball! How 'bout that?" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. Some students sighed with disappointment-thinking they were going to have another tournament. Other's cheered. Last year had been great for everyone, especially Harry. The Tri- Wizard Tournament had taken place and Harry competed in it. Along with the tournament came the Yule Ball. Harry and Ron had taken the Patil twins and ended up going home with no date at all. Hermione, however, had a lovely time with a world famous, Bulgarian Quidditch player, Viktor Krum. "The Yule Ball will be on Christmas Eve, as it was last year. I hope you will all attend-date or no date. Now, for further announcements: Quidditch will continue as before-good luck to you all! Exams are to be taken, as usual, at the end of second term. And finally, as most of you already know, the Dark Forest is out of bounds. "One more thing. I am sure you are all aware of happenings in the Wizard world? There have been many robberies and due to that fact, next week we will be doing some work to better secure Hogwarts for the safety of all of you and your belongings. Alright then, off to bed!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuffled off to the Gryffindor tower, their stomachs lagging behind. The common room was full of mostly chatty sixth and seventh years. The three of them forced themselves up the stairs leading to the dormitories. As Harry and Ron entered their dormitory, they found Seamus, Dean, and Neville asleep in their robes, drooling on their pillows. Ron fell onto his four-poster and asked, "Great feast huh?" Before Harry could answer, he was asleep in his own bed, and Ron was too. 


	5. Chapter 5 Passion

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and other related indicia are all trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. © 2000  
  
Harry Potter and the Robbery Return  
  
Chapter 5 - Passion  
  
"Hey, guys." Hermione sleepily sat down at the Gryffindor table in the great hall the next morning, looking particularly tired. Ron smirked, "Been up all night getting a head start on studying, have you?" Giving him a glare she replied, "No silly. For your information, Parvati has allergies and she kept me up all night with her snoring." She rolled her eyes and rested her head on her hand. Harry rubbed his eyes, he, too, was tired. That night he had another one of his many dreams. He had them a lot. Some were good, and some were bad. Of course, this one was bad. Voldemort was back-probably due to his run in with his father-and he wasn't scared. "Schedules! Schedules!" Professor McGonagall cried, frantically passing out pamphlets as she passed. Ron grabbed his from her and took one look at it and started to complain, "Ugh! Double Potions first." Sighing in reply, Harry and Ron made their way down to the dungeons- in order to be on time-and Hermione lagged behind them, barely awake. As they entered the potion's dungeon, joy spread throughout their bodies. Snape wasn't there as well as no teacher at all. He was never late! They earnestly waited in their seats looking back at the door every few seconds, but no one came. When the three of them turned back to the front of the classroom, they found Dumbledore standing there, his hands folded. "Ahem. Professor Snape has been sent to the Ministry of Magic under legal circumstances. For the time being, I will fill in as your teacher until a suitable substitute." Dumbledore said calmly. "But as I do not remember much about potion making, you will please talk amongst yourself for the rest of the hour." Half the class cheered under their breath. Others, among Malfoy and his pals, looked traumatized. All anyone could talk about was about whether or not Snape was in trouble or not. After all, it as the Ministry. "I think that Snape isn't at the Ministry! He's somewhere else-to secret for us to know anything about. Yeah, that's it." "Nah, he's just in danger with the wizard world." "He's just helping the Ministry! I don't know what you're talking about." "No way!" Harry, however, didn't know what to think, and frankly, he didn't care. He knew what kind of dilemma he had been in before. Snape had worked for Voldemort, years and years ago. That's the only thing Harry could think of, that is, in which he'd be in trouble with the Ministry.  
  
"Well, hullo there, Harry, Ron, Hermione," Hagrid greeted them before he started his Care of Magical Creatures class and turned to the rest of the group. "Welcome back all of yer! Ready for another year, I reckon?" Groans echoed throughout the group. "Yes.well, this here's a creature I jus' got this year. "It's a Nogtail. They are found in Australia, Russia, and America," Hagrid explained as he pointed to a creature tied up to a tree nearby. It looked particularly like a pig. "It's tied up 'cause this little demon is hasty and darn right hard ter catch. Also, accordin' to The Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they are locked up 'cause of this an' will be returned ther' at the end of this lesson." The pig-like-creature, struggling to escape from his leash, almost took the tree down with him. "Well, go an' touch him!" Hagrid ordered nicely. Several students cautiously approached the creature, taking a giant leap back every time it lurched forward. It wasn't mean, it was just a weird form of friendly.  
  
The rest of the day dragged on until by the end of the afternoon, they had two hours worth of homework. Ron, Hermione, and Harry were just finishing there's in the Great Hall-well, Hermione at least. "This homework is a drag! And on the first day! Honestly, they have no consideration for our social lives!" Ron complained, slouching on the bench. "Social lives? Oh please! It you would stop stalling you'd be done!" chuckled Hermione, who closed her books for the night. Harry however wasn't listening. His eyes and ears, as well as the rest of his body were focusing on Cho Chang, a beautiful Ravenclaw in seventh year. Brilliant! He wanted to think once more, but he couldn't. Last year, Harry had asked her to the Yule Ball, however, he was turned down-politely-as she was already attending with Cedric Diggory. Something was different about her. Where was his passion for her that he had before? It just didn't feel the same.  
  
That night in the Gryffindor common room, Harry sat awake, partly to finish his homework and partly to think. He lay down on the big red couch and propped his head up with his hands. The stars outside the window sparkled and lit up the night sky as Harry walked. "Harry?" He shot up. "Oh. Hello," it was Hermione. She gave him a puzzled look, "What are you doing?" "I think I should ask you the same question." "Parvati.I couldn't sleep." she answered. Harry offered Hermione a seat, "Er-I'm doing homework." He waited for a sharp reply, but there was none. They sat for a long time on the couch just staring into the dying fire. "Oh.um, do you need help with your work? Harry turned to her and he caught himself gazing into her eyes. It was then that he realized where his passion was, and it was beautiful. 


End file.
